There was “bring your daughter to work” day. There was “bring your dog to work” day (and, for many employers, dogs are welcome all the time). Now, “bring your parents to work” day? Yes, as noted in a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, “Should You Bring Mom and Dad to the Office?” Some employers are already doing it. I can’t help but immediately think of Phil Dunphy of Modern Family fame, a strong advocate for “peerenting,” who would probably love this in a hilarious, awkward and endearing kind of way that only he could.

Numerous generational experts and studies have noted that Millennials, the college students of today, have a much closer relationship with their parents than generations past. Anecdotes supporting this are easy to find. Why the change? Often cited reasons are new technology keeping the generations in constant communication mixed with the conventional parenting wisdom of the generation prior. Whatever the cause, some employers, like Google, Northwestern Mutual and PwC, are embracing this shift. All three are mentioned in the WSJ article and are employing strategies to thoughtfully involve parents in the work environments of their employees.

Parental involvement in the career development and recruiting process needs to be carefully handled, to say the least. As a Millennial in this field, articles like this especially make me reflect. I thought of the following:

Situations where things could get difficult with parental involvement:

Bringing parents to a career fair or networking event. Even though everyone might have the best intentions in mind, adding a parent to the dynamic of the conversation could get complicated.

Parents sitting in on an interview. Same as above.

Parents negotiating offers for candidates. As Jaime Fall, Vice President of the HR Policy Association, notes in the article, there could be privacy issues that prevent employers from sharing offer information with parents.

Situations where I think parental involvement could be great:

Candidates asking parents for advice about a career transition. Very few people have quite the long-range view of an individual like parents do, and they, being a generation older, may provide some useful insight.

Employees bringing parents to a work function that, for whatever reason, encouraged invitations to parents and/or family. If: (a) it is part of the culture and (b) the employees can trust themselves and their parents to act appropriately and respect boundaries, then I think this could be fun.

What do you think, NACE blog readers? Are we going to see more “Bring Your Parents to Work” days?